Field of the Invention
The specification generally relates to generating a planogram for representing a structured positioning of items on a shelving unit. In particular, the specification relates to a system and method for generating a planogram based on identifying patterns relating to the positioning of items on shelving units in retail stores.
Description of the Background Art
A planogram is a data or visual representation of products in a retail environment. For example, a planogram may describe where in the retail environment and in what quantity products should be located. Such planograms are tools designed for increasing sales, managing inventory and otherwise ensuring that the desired quantity and sizes of an item are placed to optimize, for example, profits. However, such planograms may not easily be available or used in some retail situations. Some retail stores may present and maintain adequate levels of stock on shelves, racks and display stands without enforcing a planogram and be highly successful in moving more items than average without knowing why. While the location and quantity of products in the retail stores can be manually tracked by a user, attempts are being made to automatically recognize the products and automatically or semi-automatically obtain information about the state of products in order to generate an optimized planogram that can be put to use.
Previous attempts at generating planograms have deficiencies. For example, one method is to place cameras in stores and watch customer behavior to develop customer driven planograms. In another example, one method is to send representatives into retail stores to create planograms manually with pen and paper. Unfortunately, planograms developed through such methods can be time consuming, unreliable, and impact the sales performance negatively.